World of Change
by Aincalandorn
Summary: When the third Angel arrives in Tokyo-3, the world begins to change. Both Seele and Gendo prepare for their HIPs, while T3 citizens start to distrust NERV. For NERV personnel, the world is coming to an end, with the pilots, NERV and Seele at the root.
1. Arashi no Mae no Shizukesa

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion; this is for entertainment purposes only with no copyright infringements intended.

Chapter 1: Arashi no Mae no shizukesa (嵐の前の静けさ.)

Tokyo-3: November 12, 2017

I groaned as I trudged through Tokyo-3. Retrieving the silver pocket watch I keep in my left pocket, I check the time. "11:15. God damn it! I was supposed to have met him a half hour ago." I groaned again and tucked the watch back into my pocket.

I look around and consult the map in my hand. "Why the hell do I have to meet him at some café in the middle of nowhere?" I asked no one in particular.

I check the map a second time and take off at a jog, glad I left my coat back at NERV, or I'd be facing heat exhaustion in no time. Maybe it would have been wise to leave my knives there, too. But then what do I use if I get into a fight? I would have my gun, I guess, but I hate using the damn thing. It's unfair, there's no real chance for the person you're facing.

My phone beeped and then said in a very monotonous voice, "New message from Misato Katsuragi."

I pull my phone out. The message was brief, but caused me some stress: "Pattern blue; ETA: 5 minutes. Hurry." Just then, the alarms started going off.

I swore and picked up my pace, tucking my phone back into my pocket in a fluid motion. Rounding a corner, I crash head first into a kid.

"Hey, sorry about that. I'm in a bit of a rush. Why aren't you in one of the shelters?" I asked as I stumble to my feet.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the kid replied. When I finally looked at him, he had short, brown hair, a white shirt, and jeans on.

_That can't be him, can it?_ "Wait, are you Ikari Shinji, by any chance?" I asked.

He stood and dusted himself off before replying, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I'm the one sent to pick you up, Kurokawa Toshi," I explained. "Now, if you'll come with me, we need to hurry. We're about to have a ten foot problem on our hands."

As if on cue, gunshots rang out. "Quickly now, we haven't much time."

We took off running towards the nearest NERV entrance, which, as if a cruel joke by some divine forces, happened to be about two blocks away.

_Why didn't I use this one?_ I chastised myself mentally.

After we were standing in the elevator and I had hit the button for Central Dogma, I turned to him. "Do you have the ID card your father sent you?"

He shifted stuff around in his bag before pulling out an envelope. "Here," he handed it to me.

I pulled out the information sheet in it. Birthdate, blood type, height, weight, stuff like that. Clipped to it was a badge. I handed that to him and quickly read the sheet. Shrugging my bag off, I pulled out a small manual from it and put the paper in, before handing it to Shinji. "You might want to read that. As a Section Two agent, I have to enforce the rules, regulations and laws outlined in that."

"NERV? Is that where my father works?" He asked, looking over the first couple of pages.

"Yeah, he's the commander," I explained. "NERV is an agency that works directly under the United Nations; we're charged with protecting Humanity against the beings known as Angels. The JSSDF was fighting one off not long ago, that's what the gunshots were."

"I see," he mumbled, reading the manual.

I grabbed the phone hanging in the elevator and dialled the extension for the bridge. It rang a few times before a voice answered, "_Toshi, where are you?_"

"Elevator 31-Delta," I answered. "Shinji is with me."

"_Good, where are you heading?" _the colonel replied.

"The bridge, we're about two minutes out," I explained. "I'll talk with you then."

"_Okay,"_ she paused. "_What does he know about NERV?_"

"Nothing."

"_Lovely,_" she groaned, "_We'll fill him in later, then. See you when you get here._"

"Okay," I hung the phone back up.

A minute and a half later, the elevator stopped.

In front of us was a massive room. At the far end is a gigantic screen displaying a camera focused on the Angel – which looks much like a human albeit dark green, with a bird-like mask, and bony rib-like structures covering a red sphere in its chest – and a 3D holographic display floating in the area between the screen and the command centre, where we were.

Down one level is the Magi system, Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior. At the back of the room is a raised platform from which Commander Gendo Ikari and Sub-commander Kozo Fuyutsuki oversee the operations. At the front of the bridge are two computer stations. First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki is stationed in front of the right one, and, currently, the left computer is empty.

Standing in the middle of the command centre is none other than the purple-haired Colonel Misato Katsuragi, my superior in both military rank, and NERV status.

Standing over Maya is the blonde scientist, and head of Project E, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.

"Colonel Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi," I started, "The Third Child, Ikari Shinji is here."

As the two women walk over, I move to the unoccupied station and, after sitting my bag against the console, sit. I retrieve the sheet from it, log in, I begin entering the details into the database.

Another alarm went off. "What the hell?" I groaned.

"The UN is deploying an N2 mine," Maya explained, not sounding too pleased.

I sighed and opened the records on Rei Ayanami. _She's not cut out for piloting, yet. That last injury in the activation test last month still hasn't fully healed._ I sighed again.

"What's up, Toshi?" Misato asked, sitting on the side of the computer.

"Rei, she's still in critical condition," I explained.

"Still? You'd think with the advanced science and technology we have here, she'd be recovered by now," Misato said in disbelief.

"Is he going to pilot?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Ritsu's showing him Eva-01, and the Commander is supposed to be there to meet him," she answered.

There was a dull thud, and the room shook slightly. The screen at the far end turned to static.

I shook my head slightly, "That isn't going to do much..."

"Restoring visuals," the computer stated. The screen flickered white then slowly displayed the image of the angel. It was melted slightly, with strange gills on its side and the mask was cracked and pushed to the side. Upon closer inspection, one could see that a second mask was forming underneath the first one.

"_I'm not piloting that… thing!_" a voice rang out on the communications system.

"_You will pilot or you will be forcibly removed," _a much deeper voice replied; it was none other than the commander himself, Gendo Ikari.

"_I haven't seen you for three years and suddenly you want me to come here, just to pilot this…creature?" _Shinji screamed.

Misato and I exchanged glances and she was the first to say what we were both thinking, "We better go resolve this."

I nodded and the two of us took the elevator to the Cages. Stepping off, we could were in another large room. At one end lay many rails going to the surface for Eva use only. To our right were four bays, although, only one was occupied right now.

In it was a mech of roughly ten feet in height and slightly humanoid in appearance. It had two things protruding from its shoulders, called pylons. The majority of the machine was purple, while the knees, elbows and ankles were black. Like the rest of it, the shoulders were purple with black sides and a green triangle on the top and slightly towards the front. On its head was a small horn, roughly six inches long, which made it resemble a Japanese demon called an Oni.

"If you won't pilot it, then Rei will," Gendo stated. "Fuyutsuki, wake Rei."

"Commander, I'm afraid I can't let you do that. As the overseer of NERV personnel safety, which extends to the pilots, it is within my authority to prevent a pilot for doing so if I deem them unfit for duty. With Rei in critical condition, to force her to pilot would be sending her to her death," I said loud enough for my voice to carry to him, but not sound as though I was yelling.

"Then what do you propose we do, Major Kurokawa?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

"I'll… pilot it," Shinji mumbled.

"What did you say?" Gendo said, "Speak up, boy."

"I said I'll pilot it!" the Third Child yelled out.

"Until you pilot, I can't stop you, so go ahead," I explained.

"Let's get him a plug suit," Misato ordered.

"_There's one in the change room, it should fit him,_" Ritsuko said.

"Toshi, can you show him where the change rooms are?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, sure," I muttered, leading the way. Shinji plodded along not far behind me.

A few halls later, we were outside the change rooms. "Here you go, Shinji. Hurry and change, we're a bit short on time."

He nodded and vanished inside. He returned a few minutes later with a very loose fitting plug suit on. Shaking my head and trying not to laugh, I told him, "Press the button on your wrist. It'll pressurize the suit."

I heard the distinct hiss of air being forced out of the suit. "Let's go," I said. We'd taken no more than two steps before there was another explosion, and the base shook slightly. A light fixture fell from the roof and landed right in front of me. "_Kuso_! Move it!" I yelled. "Follow this hall back to the Cages. Ritsuko should be waiting by Eva-01."

Shinji nodded and ran off. I turned down a hall adjacent to this one and made for the bridge. "Any NERV personnel hurt?" I asked upon entering the command centre.

"No reports so far," Maya replied.

"Good and the status of the shelters?" I quickly sat at the second station. After typing a few commands in, the status of the pilot and any reports of injuries popped up on the screen. So far, there haven't been any.

"No reports of damages to the shelters," Maya answered.

A couple minutes later, Ritsuko entered the bridge. "He's in. It seemed to open for him just fine," she said.

The console beeped and the graphs for Shinji's heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and LCL pressure appeared on screen. "Heart rate and blood pressure slightly elevated, but still within limits," I stated.

"Begin LCL pressurization," Ritsuko ordered.

"Shinji, relax. The fluid directly oxygenates your blood, you won't drown," I said when I noticed his heart rate spike. "LCL pressure at 101.3kPa, everything nominal," I explained to Ritsuko.

"Connecting A10 nerves to the Eva," Maya stated, "Connection normal."

"Pilot status still within limits. Heart rate and brain waves are slightly elevated, though," I informed Ritsuko.

"Evangelion Unit-01 link complete," Maya finished.

_Here's hoping all goes as planned._ I looked up at the open channel to Shinji. "You okay in there?"

"_Yeah. But why does it smell like blood in here?_" he replied.

I hesitated and I was about to respond, but Ritsuko beat me, "LCL contains large amounts of iron and copper, as does blood."

The way she responded didn't sit well with me. It seemed almost like she was lying to him. I'll ask her about that another time.

"Transport Eva-01 to Elevator 5," Misato ordered.

Shinji's heart rate increased a couple beats, "Relax, Shinji. Last thing we need is you having a heart attack, okay?"

He smiled weakly at my joke.

"Evangelion launch!" Misato barked and the elevator below Unit-01 flew up the rails to the streets of Tokyo-3.

**A/N**: Well, here's the first part, I'm going to plan stuff out from here. The plot of this takes place in an AU, but stays closer to Rebuild's storyline than the TV series.

If you find any errors, let me know in a review.

Thanks to Matsuko Hirioko for helping make sure the characters were consistent and correcting a few errors.

Next chapter: Saigai ga hassei (災害が発生。)


	2. Saigai ga Hassei

Chapter 2: Saigai ga hassei (災害が発生)

xx

Ritsuko leaned over the Maya's console, "Shinji, just focus on moving."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

Our eyes were glued to the screen. Shinji took a couple steps forward and then fell on his face. It seemed like he tripped over his own two feet.

"Shinji! Get up!" Misato yelled as the third Angel, Sachiel, moved into view.

The green humanoid walked over to the downed Eva. Glancing at the console, it beeped a few times indicating sudden spike in his heart rate.

"Shinji, you have to get up!" I called out.

"I can't," he wheezed out.

I quickly looked back up to the screen to see that Sachiel was standing on Shinji's back.

"Why hasn't he deployed an AT-Field?" Ritsuko asked.

"He probably doesn't know how," I replied with a frown.

"He's gonna be killed out there!" Misato yelled.

The Angel reached down and grabbed Evangelion Unit-01 by the head and lifted it at least two feet off the ground. My console beeped again to tell me that his heart rate spiked, but the visuals could have told me that.

With its other arm, Sachiel gripped the left hand of the Eva. It flexed its muscles and started tugging. Shinji screamed in agony as his arm was literally being torn from its socket. Eventually, the armour and its teenage occupant could resist no longer; the armour cracked like glass and small pieces embedded themselves into his arm, while the bone shattered under the immense pressure.

The scream we heard shall forever be burned into our very souls.

Ritsuko just gaped, completely at a loss for words, Misato nearly broke down crying, and Maya looked away with her hands over her eyes. I could have sworn that the universe just cracked like a lightning.

Quickly pushing the feelings of helplessness aside, I quickly entered the commands to inject some morphine into him.

As the drug took effect, the bane of human existence released Shinji's arm.

"Oh shit! Shinji!" Misato screamed, "Look out!"

Sadly, between the drugs and the morphine, Shinji had blacked out. Perhaps it was better this way, if he died, he wouldn't feel anything else.

The Angel's right elbow started glowing before elongating and suddenly shrinking.

"Damage to the cranial plate!" Maya screamed as her console flashed red and alarms started blaring.

The elbow retracted again before it suddenly shrunk, smashing into the Eva's head. It struck again and again.

I looked at the readings for Shinji again; his brainwaves were everywhere, his heart rate was at about 186 beats per minute, and his blood pressure was lower than it should have been considering how fast his heart was beating. Another strike, but this one shot through the head, narrowly missing Shinji's. Suddenly, his heart rate stopped.

Unit-01 flew back into a building and just lay there, silent.

"Shit, shit, SHIT!" I yelled, frantically issuing commands to the Life-Support Unit in his plug suit.

Misato ran over to see what I was so frantic about. She gasped and I'm pretty sure all colour lost her face, as had mine when he went into cardiac arrest.

Eventually the defibrillator installed into the suit finally kicked in, sending shocks into his heart every other second. After a couple seconds passed, there was a near silent beep as the poor kid's heart started beating again.

"What do we do? Ritsuko, Maya? Somebody?" Misato started mumbling.

I shot a glance at Ritsuko who came over to help the Director of Operations up off the floor and into a chair.

"Wait," Maya started, "Something's happening. Unit-01 just reactivated!"

My head snapped in her direction, "WHAT? But how? Don't they need conscious pilots to run?"

Even Ritsuko, the woman that helped design the Evangelions, was at a loss for answers.

The suit stood up and roared. _But the Evangelions aren't even living, are they?_ _How can something without life roar?_

It turned to face the creature that inflicted the injuries on it and screamed before pushing off of the building. The distance was covered in mere seconds as the Eva tore up the pavement to get revenge. Suddenly, it stopped and a wall of layered, orange hexagons appeared.

"What the hell?" I voiced what we were all thinking.

"An AT-Field has been detected!" Maya answered, looking off some readings the Magi gave her.

"What?" Misato screeched.

"Wait, Unit-01 is using its AT-Field to neutralize the Angel's," Maya continued.

Unit-01 pushed its arm through the hole it had made and tore it further. Eventually, the wall faded as though it never existed in the first place.

Without any proper weapons on it, the Evangelion tackled the Angel and pinned it to the ground. Using its only good arm, it snapped off one of the bony rib-like structures alongside the core. It raised the makeshift knife into the air before slamming it into the red sphere that was the Angel's heart. Raise, slam, raise slam. It repeated this until the orb cracked and Sachiel shrieked before wrapping itself around the Eva's torso.

The cracked core began to glow a bright red before exploding and destroying everything within a fifty metre radius.

When the smoke cleared, a figure was seen walking forward a couple steps then collapsed onto the pavement.

Misato and I leaped from the chairs we were sitting in to the nearest elevator. Ritsuko stayed behind to talk with Maya about the data recorded.

_How typical. She only cares about the data and the Evas; whether the pilot lives or dies means nothing to her._ I thought sourly.

When the elevator stopped, we made a break for her car.

No sooner had we climbed in, Misato had the vehicle running and was speeding off to the battlefield. Two minutes later, we arrived. I had paled slightly from the terror induced by the woman's driving. _Where the hell did she learn to drive?_

We climbed out and, while she ran to check on Shinji, I pulled out my phone and called in Section Two to cover this up and transport Shinji to the NERV hospital. I leaned against the car with a sigh. _This is too much for kids. If he doesn't have some sort of psychological trauma when he wakes up tomorrow, if he does, I will buy him and Misato some dinner._

If only I knew that I would soon be regretting that decision.

Five minutes after we arrived, a dozen black vans pulled up around the area, one near me and two more right by Shinji and Misato.

I walked over to the van and the agent stepped out. "Cover this up; say a gas line blew, or something. I don't really care at this point, just make this even disappear." I ordered.

The man nodded, "What should we do about the Evangelion?" He gestured towards the downed suit.

"Get the pilot out and to the hospital ASAP. As for the Colonel, take her home for now, and have her car transported to her place. She's gonna need a couple beers after this ordeal," I answered.

"And what about you, sir?" he asked.

"Me? Well, I'm going with Misato to make sure she relaxes and then we'll be going to the hospital; the kid's going to want a friendly face when he wakes up," I explained.

The man snapped to attention before barking the orders into his radio. I nodded and walked over to talk to Misato.

I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned towards me with a few tears in her eyes. "Misato, come on, let's go. The agents will make sure he gets the care he needs. I've asked one to drive us to your place; I'm sure you'll want some beers after all that's happened. Your car will be transported a little later. Afterwards, we'll go to the hospital," I informed the worry-stricken woman. "How's that sound?" I asked, attempting to smile.

"Y-y-yeah. Sure," she stammered. I gave her a hand standing and took her to the second van near us.

We climbed in and the driver sped off towards her small establishment.

I placed her arm over my shoulder and walked her to the building, up four flights of stairs and down the hall to her door. She fished around in her pocket absentmindedly for a few seconds before pulling out her keys and opening the door.

She pulled her arm off me and went to her fridge and pulled out a beer and a bottle of coke, while I went and sat down at the table. She joined me and slid the bottle over. We cracked out drinks open simultaneously and chugged a fair amount.

Slamming it down on the table she cheered, "Yeeeaaaaahhh!"

I just shook my head at how quickly she changed after a beer. "You gonna be okay, Misato?"

She downed a little more of her drink and wiped the tears from her face, "Yeah, I'm just worried."

"We all are," I said. "Even Ritsuko, even if she'll never admit it." _I hope, she does, anyways._

Twenty minutes and four beers later, Misato was ready to go. Standing outside the door, as expected, was a Section Two agent. "Let's go," I said. He nodded and led us to the van.

Another fifteen minutes and we were standing outside the door to Shinji's room. I looked around and failed to spot any Spooks around. "What the hell?" I turned to face the agent accompanying us, "Where are the two agents that are supposed to be stationed here?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, drawing his gun.

As much as I hate using them, I drew mine as well. Glancing over at Misato, I saw she had also armed herself. I gestured to the door and then pointed at the agent. He nodded and moved to the door and placed his free hand on the handle. Misato and I moved to the wall opposite him. I held up three fingers and counted down. As soon as I reached zero, he pulled the door open while Misato and I moved into the room. Scanning around, we didn't notice anything. "All clear," I stated for the sake of the Spook outside.

I stepped out of the room to talk to the Section Two Agent, "Can I see your radio for a minute?"

He unclipped it and handed it to me without a moment's hesitation.

Holstering my gun, I pressed the button and spoke, "NERV Hospital Agents, report in."

A second later, a voice came over the radio, "_Security forces, checking in_."

"Where are the two agents that are to be stationed outside room 305?" I asked.

"_Unknown. They wandered off about five minutes before you arrived, sir._"

"Get a squad outside this door immediately, I want this room secured. Pilot's safety is top priority. Make sure to bring a nurse to check on him and inform Dr. Akagi." I ordered. Before returning the radio, I added, "And send two more radios; Misato and I need them."

"_Sir, the squad is gearing up, anything else?_" the officer confirmed.

"Nope, just keep us updated of anything. Until further notice, this building is on full lockdown. No one leaves or enters without authorization class two or higher," I concluded.

Class two was the security clearance Misato and I hold, as section heads. Class one is Ritsuko, Commander Ikari and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki's clearance, which gives them free roam of the facilities.

"_Yes sir,_" the NSF officer said. "_Squad eta two minutes._"

"Good, size?"

"_Twenty fully armed agents, sir._"

"Excellent," I grinned. "I'll radio you when they arrive. Toshi, out."

"_Ten-four,_"were the last words spoken before the channel went silent.

Shortly thereafter, the men sent arrived. Misato poked her head out of the room. "Toshi, what's going on?"

"Until the building is deemed secure and my agents are found, this building is under class two-plus lockdown," I explained.

"Is that really necessary?" she asked.

"To insure the safety of Shinji, yes it is." I turned to face the squad, "Which of you has the radios?"

One stepped forward and handed Misato and I one.

I quickly clipped it and put the headset in, Misato followed suit. "Good. Here's how this is going to work: Five agents will be stationed outside this door, five with me, five with Misato and," I turned to the agent that came with us, "Sorry, what is your name?"

"Hideaki Anno, sir," the man replied.

"The remaining five agents will go with Agent Anno. Is that understood?" I finished.

The twenty one agents present snapped to attention and replied as one, "Sir, yes sir!"

Two of the five guarding the room stood beside the door, one went inside with the nurse, and the two remaining went to each end of the hall, preventing anyone from getting to the room.

"Misato would you mind checking this floor?" I asked.

"Sure," she nodded and the six set out to sweep the area.

"Anno, head upstairs. I'm going to the main and second floors," I explained. He departed with his five and I turned to mine. "Everyone ready?"

They nodded.

"Very well then," I said as we set out for the elevator to the floor below us. I tapped the button on the radio, "If anyone finds the two agents in question, radio in and let me know."

"_Got it,_" Misato said.

Agent Anno just said, "_Roger._"

When the elevator stopped, two agents stepped out and scanned the hall before gesturing for all clear. Once we stepped out, I pressed the button again, "Security, lock down the elevators."

"_Ten-four. All elevators locked._"

I led the way around the floor. We checked all eighty rooms, including the storerooms and the other twenty labs.

I radioed in, "Floor two clear, heading to the first floor."

Anno was next to radio in, "_Floor four clear; what are our orders?_"

"Standby for now. Misato, find anything?"

"_Nothing so far. We've got the ICU left to check._" She replied,

"Okay, Anno, return to 305 and standby for further orders."

"_Yes, sir._"

"Okay, let's finish this up," I said.

We had just set foot on the first floor when Misato's voice came over the line.

"_Toshi, we found them._" I heard her gag and cough.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"_ICU, burn ward,_" she answered.

"Anno, get your team over there stat," I barked before heading to the elevators. I swiped my card and we entered. One of the agents jammed the button for the third floor.

Stepping out, we tore off towards where Misato and the others were.

The sight we arrived to see was not pretty, the walls were covered in blood splatter, there were holes in the walls, glass was everywhere and the floor, too, was covered in blood. Looking at the two bodies, one agent had a massive hole through his chest, his arm was ripped off and I'm pretty sure his jaw was missing. The second agent wasn't much better, with the gunshot between the eyes, multiple scalpels in his torso and three needles in his arm.

"What the fuck happened here?" I yelled. I paged the NSF operator, "Get me the footage for the burn ward, now!"

"_No can do, sir, the cameras were disabled the moment you arrived._"

I shook my head, "That's not possible! The cameras used are beyond military grade!"

"Toshi, the best thing we can do is have the science division look into this." Misato said in a relatively calm voice.

I turned to Anno, "Get this cleaned up and their families informed. The bodies will be released after a full autopsy is done." I walked out of the room.

Misato came out a few minutes later, "You okay?"

"Do I look okay? Two of my agents were just murdered and I have nothing to go on," I snapped. "Shinji's still in recovery and Rei isn't doing much better."

"They'll be fine; NERV has the best healthcare facilities on the planet," she reassured me.

"I know," I took a few deep breaths. "Thanks. Let's go see Shinji." I pulled on the radio and spoke into it, "Release the lockdown."

"_Yes, sir._"

Once we entered the room, the agent inside left to help guard it. I collapsed onto a chair, while Misato just leaned against the wall.

A couple hours later, Shinji started to stir. "W-w-where... am I?" he stammered.

"You're in a NERV hospital," Misato said, moving from the chair she had claimed to his bedside.

He relaxed slightly when he saw her. "What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know," I said, joining them. "How's your arm?"

He seemed to cheer up slightly. "It hurts a bit."

I went to the door and asked one of the Spooks to get a nurse.

A few minutes later, he returned and the nurse checked his charts. She ran a few tests on him, before turning to face Misato and me. "He's okay to leave."

Misato let out a breath she probably hadn't realized she was holding. "Good."

The nurse bowed slightly and left.

"Can I leave now?" Shinji whined.

"Yeah, Shinji, you can," Misato replied, tossing him some clothes. The two of us left so he could have some privacy.

xx

**A/N:** Well, there's chapter two, hope you liked it.

Thanks to Matsuko Hirioko for helping make sure the characters were consistent and correcting a few errors.

Next chapter: Gakkou ga hajimaru (学校が始まる)


	3. Gakkou ga Hajimaru

Chapter 3: Gakkou ga hajimaru (学校が始まる)

**Note:** If there's a * included after some text, it means to check the A/N at the end of the chapter. This will apply to all the following chapters.

XxXxX

I leaned against the wall to wait. While I waited, I took the time to think through some things. Why were my agents attacked? What were they doing there in the first place? Who did it? Why were the cameras disabled prior to the attack? Unfortunately, I only found more questions without answers, which really bugged the hell out of me.

"_Kuso!_"

Misato poked me in the side, "What's wrong, Toshi?"

"Just some questions I can't find answers to," I replied after shooting a death glare at her.

She sighed, "Don't let it get to you. You might get answers when the bodies are examined."

"Maybe," I nodded. "I still don't want to do the paperwork. Or deal with the Commander or Sub-Commander. Least of all, I don't want to deal with Seele when they question the security here."

"It wasn't someth—" Misato started before she was interrupted by the door opening.

"I'll deal with it later," I whispered to her before turning to Shinji. "Well, let's go get something to eat; my treat." I really wish I didn't make that decision about buying Misato and Shinji lunch if he left the hospital without any trauma; I'm gonna be out a fair amount of money.

"What's the occasion?" the Colonel asked with a look of suspicion as we started walking.

"To celebrate Shinji's victory, of course!" I half lied. I mean, I couldn't say I lost a bet; that would look bad.

"You don't have to, Toshi," the brown-haired pilot stated.

I raised an eyebrow at Shinji's comment. "And why, pray tell, shouldn't I?"

"Uhm.. well. Uh… That is…" he turned bright red and stumbled over reasoning.

"Just leave it be; we're getting free food!" Misato cheered.

It was barely a whisper, but I heard Shinji mumble: "Sorry."

I sighed, "You apologize too much, Shinji."

He looked surprised that I heard him before muttering, "Sorry."

I shook my head and walked on.

As we passed by the Nerv logo, I couldn't help but find some irony in the slogan. "God is _not_ in his heaven, all is _not_ right in the world."

XX

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Misato's driving? Well, consider it mentioned. I've been driven around by her a couple times and I'm still terrified; I can only imagine how Shinji feels.

"Misato will you slow down! I don't think the higher ups would be too happy if their only pilot got injured by your recklessness!" I yelled, holding onto the holy shit handles.

"We'll be fine," she replied calmly as we swerved to avoid another car.

Of all the ways to go, Misato's driving was not high on my list.

"Did we just run that red light?" Shinji cried out.

"It was amber, I swear!" Misato countered.

"Bullshit! It was clearly red, that's why that car was in the intersection!" I stated.

Suddenly we stopped. "We're here."

I don't think it's humanly possible to escape that coffin on wheels any faster than Shinji and I did. I looked up at the sign for the restaurant and cringed. We were at one of the fanciest ones in the city. I'm so gonna go broke after this.

"I should have known you'd pick here, Misato," I grumbled as we walked in.

An hour and $200 later, we left. _Hah! I'm not broke! That's maybe a day's pay! WOOHOO!_ I cheered silently to myself.

Taking a seat in the front of the coffin on wheels, I asked Misato, "Where's Shinji going to live?"

Misato checked the clock on the dash, "Well, it's early in the afternoon. Let's head back to Nerv and get this settled. Commander Ikari probably won't deal with the processing…" She mumbled the last bit.

As we pulled back into the parking lot, I sighed. I really, _really_ didn't want to go back to do paperwork. Deaths in a Nerv building would have Seele chewing my ass off for inadequate security. I'm starting to suspect it was someone within Nerv; how else could they enter a high security building like the hospital?

I trudged away to my office where I found a massive stack of papers to fill out sitting on my desk. How the hell did they know already? I shrugged before taking a seat at my desk and I proceeded to sort through the dozen or so forms I had to fill out.

"Is there anyone in here?" A voice asked from the doorway.

"Depends who's asking," I replied.

"Doctor Akagi needs to talk to you," the voice said.

I peeked around the stack of papers to see Agent Anno standing there. "What about?"

"She didn't say," he answered.

"Naturally," I muttered as I finished the last form. "Now then, hopefully the person that dropped these off will pick them up and take them to wherever it is they go." Grabbing my stuff, I said: "Okay, lead the way."

He nodded before walking off to one of the many labs in the pyramid that is Nerv HQ.

_We really need some method of travel around here that's not walking and significantly faster. Perhaps get some golf carts, or something. Hah! Nerv Taxi Service._

We stopped outside a door with an "authorized personnel only" sign stuck to it.

Anno snapped to attention and left after I nodded to him.

I swiped my card and entered to find Ritsuko leaning over a corpse. "You wanted to talk to me?" I asked glancing over the body.

"Yes," she walked over to the other table, which had a white sheet covering the body. Pulling back the sheet to his belly button, she started to explain what she found. "Agent Asano's arm was separated prior to having the hole put through where his heart should have been and his jaw was severed with a blade like object. The cause of the hole is still unknown. All his internal organs are missing; presumably they were pulled out through the hole." She replaced the sheet before checking over the chart sitting by the table.

"Anything else about Agent Asano?" I inquired.

"His family seems to have hereditary heart problems; but nothing else stands out. He was just another agent," she replied after skimming the chart.

"And Agent Tanaka?" I asked, gesturing to the other body.

"His blood has high levels of LCL or something very similar to it," she started.

"LCL doesn't do anything to the blood, does it?" I frowned.

"Not that we can tell, other than it oxygenates it. There was also a strong paralytic agent in his body. I'm not certain, but I believe Agent Tanaka was paralyzed before being stabbed a dozen times with four scalpels then injected with two full syringes of LCL. The gunshot was post-mortem judging by exit wound of the bullet, which I retrieved from the wound." She tossed me a small bottle with a chunk of metal in it.

"I'll get this analyzed," I replied, examining the bullet. It appeared to be the same as the standard Nerv issue handguns. "Was there any GPR on the wound?"

"None, not even a finger print or two on the scalpels. I couldn't even find any tissue under the finger nails. Sorry, but that's all I've got for you," Ritsuko concluded.

"Thanks," I started to walk away before a thought struck me. Okay, _two_ thoughts struck me. "Anything on the cameras being down?"

"Nothing, the Magi just reported them as never going out," she replied after a second of thinking.

"God damn it," I muttered. Before I got a chance to voice the second thought, the phone rang.

Stripping the gloves off, Ritsuko answered it. I ignored the conversation until I heard Ritsuko ask: "What did you say Misato?"

"_I said, Shinji will be living with me. I've already got permission from the higher ups. And don't worry, I won't put the moves on him._" Misato said.

"I SHOULD HOPE NOT! What the hell are you thinking, saying something like that? Honestly!" Ritsuko screamed. I had to take a step back in surprise.

I shook my head and, unknowingly, echoed the Lt. Colonel's words as I left the room. "She never could take a joke."

XxXxX

The next day, I awoke to my phone ringing. Groggily, I answered it, "Mornin', Kurokawa here."

"_Hey, Toshi. I have some orders from the commander_,"the person on the other end said.

"Can't it wait, Maya?" I groaned.

"_I don't think so. You've got to go back to junior high_," she replied calmly.

I sat bolt upright in my bed. "WHAT? Is this some kind of sick joke? Did Misato put you up to this?"

"_You're going back to junior high. No, this isn't a joke, so Misato couldn't have put me up to anything._" Maya stated. "_Your job is going to be evaluating the curriculum. The Commander wanted the pilots watched during school._"

"Why? I thought we were supposed to give them some sense of normality. If I'm watching them for the majority of the day, doesn't that ruin the intent?" I climbed out of bed and put my phone on speaker so I could get ready.

"_Commanders orders. School starts at 0800, make sure to be there early,_" Maya explained.

"Sure, thanks," I said. "I'll talk to you later. Let me know if there's an Angel attack."

"_Can do_," Maya replied before ending the call.

XxXxX

The school was rather bland, to say the least. Slightly off-white walls, two stories, fence surrounding the roof and campus, a track out back, and a pool that was fenced off. I sighed after checking my watch. "Fifteen minutes," I mumbled under my breath.

I checked in at the office and set off to the class I'd be in for the next ten months. I explained to the teacher what was happening and set up a chair at the back of the room to sit at.

Slowly, in groups of two or three, students started piling in. I had been reading when I sensed someone standing in front of me. I looked up to see none other than Rei Ayanami, designated First Child and the pilot of Evangelion Unit-00. I don't know why, but something seems slightly unnatural about her; sparkling blue hair, brilliant red eyes and deathly pale skin. I've met some Albinos in my life, but Rei is still weird, even by their standards.

"Hey, Rei. How's the arm?" I asked as I put my book aside.

"Morning, Toshi. And it's fine. Doctor Akagi says it'll be healed by next week," she replied. Although she's starting to understand emotions, she's still got a long ways to go. Her voice is still rather monotonous, even after 7 years.

"That's good to hear," I said with a smile. "Anyways, class is about to begin, you should take your seat." She nodded and took a seat near the windows.

I dug out my clipboard-folder and looked through the files on the students and the teacher. The teacher walked in and a girl with brown hair in a pony-tail, whom I assumed was the class representative, barked out a few commands. "_Kiritsu!_ _Rei! Chakuseki!*_"

"_Onegaishimasu_!*" the class said as one.

"Good morning, class," the elderly man started. "Today we have two people joining our class. First is a new student, Ikari Shinji."

"H-h-hi, nice t-t-to meet you," Shinji stammered before bowing.

"Why don't you take that desk over there, by Ayanami Rei," the Sensei said.

Shinji nodded before taking his newly assigned seat.

"Now then, our class has the privilege of being the basis of the new curriculum. Allow me to introduce Kurokawa Toshi," he said.

The class bowed in their seats when I stood up. _This is going to take some getting used to._

"Pleasure to be here, Sensei. Continue on with the class as though I'm not here," I explained, going with the cover I was given. "If I have any suggestions, I will make sure to let you know." I returned to my seat after bowing.

He began the lecture on Second Impact that he believed to be the truth, which, in reality, was merely a lie fed to the general populous of the world by Nerv.

XxXxX

Eventually, the bell rang for lunch. Shinji went up to the roof, Rei sat in class and quietly ate her lunch, and I skimmed through the reports from the incident the other day while munching away on my sandwich. Luckily, a staff member had dropped off a music stand for me to sit my folders and such on, beside me sat a desk I stole from the back row.

Shortly after, I heard some kids whispering about a fight out front. I ignored it until I heard something that just made my job more paper-ridden: "I heard that Touji and the new kid are fighting."

I swore, closed my folder before dashing out the door to break it up. When I got there, Shinji was on the ground with a slight cut on his right cheek, blood slowly leaking out. Two boys were standing in front of him. One with a camera, freckles, glasses and dirty blonde hair; the other had black hair and a track suit on. Recalling the files, I called out, "Aida, Suzuhara!"

The colour faded from the jock's face. He turned slowly around to face me.

"Uh… Kurokawa-Sensei*, what are you doing here?" the black-haired boy asked meekly.

"I should ask you the same thing, Suzuhara. Is there a particular reason you're picking a fight with Ikari?" I asked harshly.

"What do you care?" he retorted.

"Don't get lippy with me," I snapped back. "You are aware that fights on school grounds are grave offenses, are you not?"

"But he star—" the jock started.

"Don't even go there, Suzuhara. From what I've seen from him, he's not a violent person," I interrupted him. _Not violent, but very much mentally disturbed; who could blame the poor kid, though?_ I added silently. I moved my gaze to the spectacled blonde. "And you, Aida." He visibly tensed up when I called out to him. "Why didn't you stop the fight?"

He looked at the ground and shifted uncomfortably. "I… um… uh…"

"You two take Shinji to the Nurse's office and get that cut looked at. After class I'll be expecting you to report to detention; consider this a warning," I barked.

"But you can't do that! You're not a teacher here!" Suzuhara whined.

"I'm staff here for the next year. Keep it up, and you'll find yourself in detention for the rest of the week, Suzuhara," I replied. "Now, get to it. Better not be late for class."

I stalked off to the office to make sure Suzuhara and Aida had a detention after school today.

Returning to class, I returned to my files and make a note on the jock's file: Violent.

The trio returned just before the bell ending lunch rang, Shinji came in first followed by Suzuhara and Aida.

The class was just about to start before my phone rang. I quickly checked the message. It read: "Blue 10m."

I sighed before walking up to the teacher. "Excuse me, Shirou-sensei. There's a—" I was cut off by the air raid sirens ringing.

"Everyone, please head to the shelter in an orderly fashion," he said as though it was something that happened all the time.

I lagged behind before flagging over Rei and Shinji. I whispered to them, "Angel ten minutes out" Turning to the teacher, I raised my voice, "Shirou-sensei, I've got to get these two to their designated shelter; principal's orders."

He nodded before leaving with his class.

"Let's get going," I stuffed my files into my bag before leading the way to the nearest Nerv entrance.

Upon entering, we split up. Shinji and Rei went to the change rooms, even though Rei wasn't fit for combat and her unit was still locked down, while I went to the bridge. I logged in with practiced ease and agility. It finished loading as I took my seat, Misato standing nearby.

XxXxX

**A/N:** Well, there's chapter 3. Here's the notes.

_Kiritsu!_ _Rei! Chakuseki!/Onegaishimasu_!: Kiritsu, Rei, Chakuseki means "Stand, bow, sit down", while "Onegaishimasu" is the response from the students to the teacher at the beginning of class.

"Kurokawa-Sensei": I chose to use the honorific "Sensei" for the purpose of reflecting how the students see Toshi. While he's not a teacher, per se (As Touji brings up), he is still a staff member of the school and a teacher-like role in class. That is, he is there to watch over them and make sure the curriculum is set out properly and taught effectively; although, that's a bit of a lie, but that's how the students and the teacher see it.

Thanks to Matsuda Hirioko for beta reading.

Next chapter: Fufukujyuu (不服従)


	4. Fufukujyuu

Chapter 4: Fufukujyuu (不服従)

XxXxX

"Sealing suit, vitals nominal, Eva standing by for launch," I called out.

"What do we have on the Angel?" Misato asked.

"I'm not sure how to put this… It's a giant… penis?" I replied, followed by nervous laughter.

"What do you mean by that?" Misato asked, apparently unfazed by my description of the fourth Angel.

"See for yourself, ma'am," Maya replied. The screen flickered briefly before showing a camera view of Shamshel.

On screen was a pink and purple insectoid with a red sphere just below its head behind what appeared to be moving ribs. Sprouting out of the Angel's shoulders were two purple tentacles of light.

"So it is, so it is," Misato muttered. She opened a channel to Shinji before speaking again, "Shinji, be careful, we don't know what this Angel's capable of."

"Ready?" I asked the pilot.

"Do I have a choice?"

I hesitated briefly before replying: "No, not really…"

We waited for a moment longer for Misato's commands. "Evangelion Unit-01, LAUNCH!"

The lift launched Shinji towards the surface at break-neck speeds. Were it not for the LCL in the plug, the plug suit and the Eva's armour, I'm certain he'd have been flattened to thinner than paper.

Leaving the elevator, Shinji is attacked by the Angel's tentacles.

"Shinji, deploy your AT-field," the Operations Director barked.

"My what? How?"

"Misato, Shinji hasn't got any pilot's training yet. His first session was scheduled for later today," I explained.

Misato swore before issuing more orders. "Maya, get some cover fire for him. Toshi, you've had some basic Eva training, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," the other bridge bunny replied, typing away madly at her console.

"Only a brief walkthrough of the systems, no actual training as a pilot. Where's Dr. Akagi?" I answered.

Misato let loose a few expletives. Maya answered my question with a solemn look, "She's at a meeting with some science group or something."

The purple-haired woman swore a few more times.

During our brief discussion, Shinji had managed to untangle himself from the tentacles. He pulled Shamshel towards him before kicking it further away. Alas, it was straight into an apartment building.

I saw Misato cringe out of the corner of my eye; more paperwork for her.

Just then, some alarms went off. "Eva-01 has switched to internal power. Ten minutes until deactivation," Maya explained.

I quickly glanced down to find Shinji's system was being flooded with adrenaline. "Misato! He's bordering on cardiac failure!" I called out, scrambling to bring his heart rate down to safe levels.

"Shinji! Retreat through elevator 89D!" Misato barked.

Shinji started mumbling something, but it wasn't loud enough to be picked up by the audio system in the plug. "Prog knife deployed," Maya stated.

"Shinji, I ordered you to retreat! Get your ass back down here!" the Colonel repeated.

Shinji sprang forward towards the fallen Angel as it extracted itself from the rubble of the building. With a scream, he tackled Shamshel and drove the vibrating blade straight into the core. The whips that compose the insectoid's arms flailed madly, destroying several nearby buildings.

"Power supply damaged! Fifteen seconds of power remain!" the lieutenant cried out as more alarms started blaring.

As the purple-armour clad suit powered down, the red sphere that was the Fourth Angel's heart dimmed. It was dead and in near perfect condition for study; Ritsuko will be glad to hear of that.

When the alarms for Shinji's power-supply died off, a couple warnings popped up on my screen. First, Shinji's heart was beating too fast for it to be safe. Second, several cameras in the complex had suddenly stopped transmitting. Thirdly, a half-dozen guards had gone missing. Lastly, one of the surface doors, which was located on the opposite end of the city from where Shinji had fought, had been blasted open.

I set the computer to help bring his blood pressure and heart rate down by releasing a small dosage of norepinephrine. "Misato, there's been a level two security breech, so I have to run. Shinji should be safe enough, providing he hasn't passed out."

The director nodded and I tore off out of the room. Pressing the button on my radio, I issued off a couple orders. "Agent Anno, have a small team assembled, fifteen strong, and meet me at the breech. All agents in the area, report in."

"Roger, full gear?" Anno replied instantly.

"Body suits, assault rifles, and some flash-blangs. I'll suit up and meet you there," I replied, heading for the nearest security station.

"Sector Five Security, checking in. The cameras were down prior to the explosion. A standard response team was dispatched, no contact in fifteen minutes," came another response.

As I suited up, I snapped, "Why the hell didn't I get notified of this earlier?"

"Protocol dictates that—" the officer started.

"I know damn well what it says. There wasn't even a notice sent to me until the response limit was reached. I should have been informed that there was a breach and a team was dispatched the second it happened."

"Logs show that messages were sent."

"I didn't receive anything," I growled as I tried to decide which rifle I wanted. Eventually I chose the FN F2000*, with two smoke grenades, two flash-bangs and two fragmentaries. As much as I hate guns, I hate being under equipped when I'm under a siege. At least this way I'll have a chance if I'm against a small army… maybe. Slotting the two spare clips into the pouches on the body suit, I left the room.

A couple minutes later, I joined up with the team, who were similarly equipped. "Anything on the cameras?" I spoke into the radio.

"Nothing," the officers replied, fifteen in all.

The eighth sector officer was last, "Unauthorized personnel in Sector 8-delta. Lockdown confirmed."

I turned to the agents, "Form up!" The fifteen men quickly moved into formation, which was a three-by-five line. Agent Anno fell into position at the very back, beyond the standard formation, while I was alone in a row, like he was, at the front. "Sound the general alarm for 8-delta. I want everyone out of our way when we come rolling in," I barked. To the rest of the agents, I signalled and started off at a mild jog.

It took us nearly an hour to arrive. Raising a closed fist, I brought the squad to a halt. I moved to the wall and checked the panel that was at each door. The screen showed a feed of the corridor beyond the door. I held up my hand towards the others with my thumb on my index finger, signalling that there were nine hostiles ahead. I pointed to the right column, held up an open palm, gestured to the right hall just behind us, and drew a small loop in the air. The agents nodded and moved out. I repeated the sequence to the left column and pointed down left. They, too, moved out. A minute later, I received confirmation they had arrived at the other two entrances.

Sticking my right arm out straight towards me, I spoke into the radio as the agents fanned out into a line, Anno directly to my left, "Safeties off!" I heard six clicks as switches were flicked. I slid a smoke grenade into the 40mm barrel before issuing another order: "Locks off!"

The door locks released and the doors opened. Once there was enough room, I fired the grenade into the hall, where it joined two others.

Switching to infrared vision on the goggles we all wore, the seventeen of us moved in, guns at the ready. Due to our suits, our heat signatures were actually a different colour than the unauthorized personnel's. They were red, oranges and yellows; we were blues, greens, and yellows.

Thanks to the training and protocol, all agents would aim at the legs, specifically the knees, of the hostiles to allow for live capture.

One of the blobs moved and I opened fire. The two bursts took out any chance of the figure leaving. A few minutes later, two more joined it, while the other six were lying on the floor dead.

As the smoke cleared, I removed my goggles. "I want these men transported to the infirmary and a detail posted outside the room at all times," I replied. Ten of the sixteen others saluted before hauling the bodies off.

I rubbed my eyes and sighed. "Anno, get this cleaned up. Afterwards, the general alarm is to be cancelled. Also, I want that door fixed yesterday. If anything changes, I want to hear, got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the Agent replied, issuing orders. I didn't pay too much attention. I left for the bridge to ask Misato if she'd give me a ride home.

Thankfully, she did. I brought my gear with me, along with my jacket of course. Removing the vest and helmet, I leaned the gun next to the stand by my bed. I collapsed and sleep visited me the second my head hit the pillow.

XxXxX

I awoke to my cat head-butting me fourteen hours later. "Go away, Spaz."

Being the stupid cat he is, a couple swats at him did nothing to give Spaz an idea that I don't want to play.

With a groan I rolled over. "Spaz, do you have something against me sleeping?" I asked, my mind still slightly clouded by sleep. He climbed on top of my chest and started purring. "Clearly, you're an idiot."

_And I'm crazy._

I sighed and pushed my cat off me. "What was so damn important you had to come wake me? Hmm?"

Spaz ran off, probably to go terrorize more of my apartment. I rolled over and was about to try to go back to sleep when my phone rang. I reached with habitual ease and pressed the on button. "Can it wait?" Only a handful of people have my home number: Misato, Maya, Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko, Gendo and two or three close friends.

"_You're late for work, Toshi,_" Misato replied.

"I am? It's only seven."

"Try again, kiddo. It's nine."

I checked the clock. _7:05 AM._ I dug around for my phone. _0706._ "Misato, it's only a little after seven. I'm not due for another twenty minutes or so."

"Toshi, it's 0907. Get your ass down here before the Commander murders you," she threatened.

"How's the possible? Both my phone and clock are set by the Magi," I explain, putting her on speakerphone to change and re-don my gear. As if my day couldn't start off any worse, someone was pounding their fist into my door. "God damn it. Hold on; someone's at the door." Sitting the phone on my desk, I went to answer the door.

Standing outside was none other than Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. Probably ready to kick my ass out of Nerv. "You've been requested for a trial by Seele," he stated, skipping the pleasantries.

I groaned. "Why?"

"It should be obvious, I think," Fuyutsuki replied, his normal mannerisms gone with the wind.

"The security breaches?" I asked in a quiet, defeated voice.

The elderly man nodded.

"Okay, lemme just grab the rest of my gear and I'll be right out," I explained. Quickly heading to my room to grab the rifle I told Misato I'd be a while due to a meeting and replaced the phone on the cradle.

XxXxX

Picture the most embarrassing thing to happen to you. Now amplify that by twenty. Disturbed enough? Well, that's nothing compared to being in a pitch black room, naked and on a lit platform that doesn't seem to push the darkness back.

If that wasn't bad enough, I was surrounded by panels that had "Seele" followed by a number and "Sound only" on them in red text; nothing more, nothing less. Although, the "sound only" part was a half-truth, at least, I think so. It's hard to say. I'm pretty sure they could see me, but I couldn't see them, which is really disturbing and makes me want to go die somewhere.

"_What is your name and rank within Nerv?_" Seele-01, Chairman Lorenz Keel, asked. Out of all the Seele members, I've only met Keel once. He was an older man with white hair and that wise and all-knowing look people get as they age. He was of German ethnicity, wore a green suit, and had a strange visor thing over his eyes.

"Major Toshi Kurokawa."

"_What is your position within Nerv?_" Seele-03 asked.

"Section Two Commander and Director of Security and Personnel Safety."

"_How many breeches have there been since assuming this position, when and where did they occur?_" Seele-08 asked.

"Two. The first was at the hospital on 12 November 2017. The second was a S-Five surface gate on 13 November 2017."

"_How many casualties in each breech?_" Keel asked.

"Two agents DOA in the hospital; nine hostiles encountered in the S-Five breech, three detained, rest killed in combat."

"_Anything else you wish to add?_" Keel finished.

"We are looking into the incidents and will be interrogating the detained men," I concluded.

"_That will be all,_" Seele-09 stated.

I quickly left the room, dressed and set off for the bridge.

XxXxX

**Notes:** The FN F2000 is an all-purpose rifle from Belgium. The version I used was the rifle with a telescopic sight and a 40mm grenade launcher attached. Picture can be found by searching Google for "FN F200 Modern Firearms", it should be the first result (world[dot]guns[dot]ru). The image is the 3rd image down.

Thanks to Matsuko Hirioko for beta reading.

**Next Chapter:** Kaigi wa Kaiyou (会議は海洋).


	5. Kaigi wa Kaiyou

Chapter 5: Kaigi wa Kaiyou (会議は海洋)

XxXxX

I sank into my chair. "Can today possibly get any worse?"

I heard Maya say: "It just did."

I slumped and crashed my face into the console. "What now?"

"The new pilot is coming today and we have been asked to ensure she arrives safely," Misato explained.

"What? Why?" I whined.

"Because the Commander said so," the woman replied.

I hit my head on the computer a couple more times. "What do you mean by 'ensure she arrives safely,' Misato," I asked.

"She and Evangelion-02 are being transported by boat."

"Why? Can't they fly them here? It's not like the Evas are eighty-foot creatures covered in immense amounts of armour plating."

"Because Nerv-Germany stated that we must do it by ship."

"But why? Are they expecting an Angel attack or something? And if there was, shouldn't there be someone already there capable of directing the defence?"

"No," Misato replied, "That's why we have to go. _We_ are the ones in charge."

I groaned. "I can understand why you have to go, but why do I?"

"Because we were ordered to, so quit whining and grab your shit. We leave in twenty."

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate my job sometimes? If not, consider it mentioned.

XxXxX

"Are we there yet?" Shinji's classmate, Touji Suzuhara, asked for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Stop asking, we'll be there when we get there," I replied from the front of the chopper, checking through some stuff on my phone.

"This is so cool!" cried out the military otaku, Kensuke Aida. I think he started talking about the _Over the Rainbow_, one of the UN's last aircraft carriers.

At last, we arrived. Aida was the first out, filming everything he could. Suzuhara and Shinji stepped out next. Misato and I were last to follow. Just as an extra precaution, I had another agent come along should we come under attack to watch over the civilians and left Anno in charge of Nerv security during my absence.

I sighed as the two civilians ran off, Aida to film something and Suzuhara to catch his stupid hat. I gestured for the agent to follow them while Misato and I looked for the new pilot and an agent –I checked my phone—Ryoji Kaji.

Misato and I stopped where we were heading when we heard a loud slap ring out. Misato muttered, trying to keep her hat from blowing away like the jock's, "We should probably go see what happened."

"Yeah…" I replied.

We arrive near one of the jets on deck to find Suzuhara rubbing his face where a giant, red mark had appeared. Standing in front of him was a fair-skinned redhead in a yellow sundress. "Is that..?" I started.

I didn't even need to finish before Misato replied, "Yeah."

"This can't be good."

"No, probably not."

Sometimes, I hate being right.

"What was that for?" the jock asked.

"That's the viewing fee; kinda cheap, don'tcha think?" the German, Asuka Langley Soryu, snapped back.

"We were right," Misato and I muttered in unison.

"If you want my opinion, it's overpriced. Don't worry, here's your change!" Suzuhara replied, dropping his drawers.

Asuka took on a look of shock and two more cracks shattered the silence. The stupid jock stood back a bit and rubbing both cheeks.

"Well, I guess you three have met the Second Child and designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, Asuka Langley Soryu," Misato laughed.

"Which one's the Third Child?" the girl asked. "It better not be him," she glared at Suzuhara.

"It's not, it's him," I gestured at Shinji.

One second she's standing a couple feet away from us all, the next she's mere inches from his face. "He's not much to look at."

"Misato, shouldn't we go meet the admiral of this tinker toy?" I asked, looking for any excuse to be doing something not out on the deck.

"IT'S NOT A TINKER TOY!" the otaku roared. "It's one of the last—"

"I know, Aida. You don't need to tell us a million and one times," I snapped. Being fed up with dealing with the children, I gestured for the agent to drag the two middle school students away. The four of us walked to the bridge to talk to the admiral.

XxXxX

When we arrived, the admiral, a seasoned sailor with white hair and a slight beard, greeted us with a sour expression that could have curdled milk. "Admiral, I believe you need to sign these papers," Misato stated, handing the man a stack of paper.

"Not on your life. Until we arrive, the girl and robot are under our jurisdiction," the sailor growled. "And why the hell are there children on my bridge?"

My eye twitched a few times at the word "children". I'm pretty sure Misato's did, too. "I'll have you know that I've got just as much training, if not more, than you, sir."

"How could a mere boy have more training and experience than I do after forty years in the Navy?" he snapped back.

"You'd be surprised at what I could do, sir," I calmly stated. "In the event of an attack, Colonel Katsuragi and I take charge of any—"

"Kid, get the hell out of my bridge, this is no place for a boy."

"Admiral, I think you've overstepped your authority, sir. I am a fully qualified Major with training in weapons ranging from close combat to assault rifles," I growled, ready to riddle the prick with the assault rifle I've been keeping on me in the event of another attack.

"Who in their right mind would let a boy play with guns?"

"What right do you have to call me a 'boy'?" I yelled, my patience with the man having depleted and my temper taking over. "You can get off your fucking high horse any time now. For your sake you better fucking hope there isn't an attack, or I might accidentally shoot you or let you get shot. Apparently with age comes arrogance."

"Apparently, the younger you are, the less respect you have for elders, you ungrateful little shit," the admiral remarked.

"Those who want respect don't fucking expect it, they earn it; I figured that'd be common sense, but apparently not. Guess you wouldn't know how to show someone respect if it slapped you in the face. Now, if you'd be so kind as to drop fucking dead, sir." I left the bridge immediately after, less I lose it and actually shoot him; not that he wouldn't deserve it, though.

Misato and the pilots came out a couple minutes later. Shinji seemed weary of me, and I can't say that I blame him. I did just lose my temper on a higher ranking officer. As for Asuka, she didn't seem to particularly care one way or another about what happened. Misato pulled me aside for a moment.

"Toshi, what happened? It's not like you to lose your cool."

"I don't know. There's just something about that asshole that I can't stand. He not only disregarded my rank, but also my position and training."

"If it makes you feel any better, you handled it much better than I would have. I'd have just shot him on the spot," Misato said with a smile.

"Trust me, if I was there any longer, I would have. Don't think it'd fly to well, but whatever. Now then, can we go somewhere that's not anywhere near him?" I returned the smile.

"Come on, you two. Let's go get some food!" Misato cheered.

Shinji stayed in front of me, directly beside his guardian, while Asuka lead the way, or at least pretended to.

Perhaps I overstepped my authority. I imagine that what I did wouldn't get me in Nerv's good books. Oh well, that prick needed to be put in his place.

XxXxX

At the cafeteria, we had just gotten our food when a fifth person decided to join us. He had black hair pulled into a ponytail and wore a rather formal suit. I wasn't sure if it was Ryoji Kaji, the agent escorting Asuka, or not. That uncertainty was dispelled the second Asuka cried out and tackled him. Misato, on the other hand, seemed to be ready to kill him. I wonder why that is.

When Kaji finally got Asuka off of himself, he took a seat at the table. "Misato, what brings you here?"

"Certainly not to see you," the woman retorted back.

"Misato, we don't need another incident. You remember the Nerv-HQ event last month?" I said quietly.

I have never seen a person turn red faster than she did just then.

"What's he talking about, Misato?" Asuka asked accusingly.

"Nothing. Forget I ever mentioned it," I quickly replied.

"_Baka_! You don't just mention something like that and brush it under the rug!" Asuka stated.

"Oh yeah? Watch me." If she wanted a battle of wills, I'll give her one.

"Are you referring to the exp—" Kaji started.

"Shut the hell up!" Misato roared, diving over the table to silence the other agent.

"Misato! Can you at least act your rank?" I called out.

"SHUT UP!"

I sighed. "Whatever, look bad and get Seele on your ass."

That got her attention instantly. She pulled herself off Kaji and quickly sat down. "This," she gestured around, "never happened."

"Sure, Misato, whatever you say," Shinji replied.

Kaji and Shinji just grinned, Asuka rolled her eyes, and I shook my head.

"Anyways, Agent Kaji, can I talk to you for a moment?" I said, gesturing to a table away from everyone else and the door.

We switched tables and quickly got to business. "You want the files for Asuka, I take it?"

"That obvious?"

"Why else would we be over here?"

"Touché," I muttered.

"Here they are. Anything and everything Nerv has on her." He slid over a small disk.

"Really? No paper?"

The other agent nodded. "This only works with Nerv equipment, so it's extremely secure."

"So much for reading up on this before we arrive in Japan," I muttered. I quickly answered his unspoken question when I continued. "I don't have a computer from Nerv here for the decryption to put it on my phone for reference."

We rejoined the others and chatting idling for a few minutes before several alarms started going off. "What the..?"

"_Attention all crew, this is the captain speaking. We are currently under assault from unknown forces. Prepare for imminent boarding._"

"SON OF A BITCH! I just can't catch a break, can I?" I yelled.

"Apparently… not," Misato mumbled.

"Time to go shove that old geezer off his throne, Misato. Let's go," I donned the rifle and turned off the safety.

"Agent Kaji," I started.

"Just call me Kaji."

"Now's really not the time, Kaji," Misato mumbled.

"I'll worry about it later," I replied. "Just cover our rear. Asuka, Shinji, follow behind Misato. Wait for the all clear to proceed."

The pilots quickly moved between the only two adults, and I moved to the door. Peeking out, I spotted no movement. "Clear."

We slowly made our way to the bridge. Agent Anno and a few other agents were already present, so were Shinji's classmates. "Admiral, I do believe that Colonel Misato and I have authority now."

"Kiss my ass! There's no way in hell I'm giving up control of my crew to a mere child!" the elderly man snapped.

"Sir, do you honestly want to go against the UN and Nerv?" one of the other crewmen asked.

"I've got more experience and training than this boy, so why should I give him command?"

As to prove a point, a bullet flew in through the window and embedded itself within the console near the admiral. The man dove for cover, as did the children and other crew on deck. Misato, Kaji and I took up defensive positions around the now-missing window. Finding movement, I quickly aimed the gun at it. In the scope, I saw a figure in a full black wetsuit, with his or her face covered, a black vest, and a water-resistant weapon, standing at the front of the carrier.

I switched the rifle to single shot and pulled the trigger once. The gun bucked, a loud crack rang out, and the figure slumped to the ground, severely injured or dead.

I'm certain the captain saw it; it'd be pretty hard to miss.

"Sir, you are hereby removed of command for failure to abide by the UN regulations regarding Nerv. All military command you had is now nulled pending a court hearing," I recited the speech all ranking Nerv members are required to know.

"As such, the control of this aircraft carrier is under the command of Nerv and its present officers, Colonel Misato Katsuragi and Major Toshi Kurokawa," Kaji finished.

The once forceful man shrank back slightly.

"Which ships are still ours?" Misato asked while I was scouting out movement on deck.

"Only two minor battleships. They've been disarmed completely and are currently trying to rescue those floating in the water," another crewmember replied.

"Toshi, what do you suggest we do?" Misato enquired.

"I'm not sure yet. How far out are we?"

"Two hours."

"By flight?"

"Hour and a half."

"So we couldn't get reinforcements for at least ninety. This isn't looking good," I mused. "Misato, keep a watch while I see what I can come up with." I unclipped the rifle from my vest and handed it to her. With a nod, she proceeded to take over my previous position.

"Why not send me out in the Eva?" Asuka offered.

"We couldn't get there even if we wanted to," I replied instantly.

"Why the hell not?"

"Firstly, it's heavily guarded. Secondly, they have C4 wired to go off when the door is breached in any way, assuming you can get past the team guarding the corridor," I replied, watching the cameras.

"What about the vents?" Shinji proposed.

"I suppose, but neither Misato, Kaji nor I can fit."

"But we can," Asuka beamed.

"We can keep them distracted while you diffuse the sensor on the door," Kaji agreed.

"Do we have someone that could talk them through the procedure?" I asked.

"Can't we just disconnect the wires?" Asuka suggested.

"Not even maybe. If they're pros, which I have no doubts they are, they'll have it wired so that breaking the circuit will trigger the detonation. That's the most probable way they have the door trigger set up, too," I explained, some of my knowledge of military training coming back to me.

"Isn't that also standard procedure for an assault of a fortified establishment containing precious materials?" Misato asked.

"Yup. Only the UN, Nerv, Seele and any government officials have any knowledge of the Evangelions. And those to," I indicated the other two middle school students.

The seven of us stood in silence for several minutes.

Eventually the captain spoke up, "Why not just remove the explosives from the robot or the wires from the door?"

"The live ends are probably melted to form a relatively resistance free contact with the door. As long as that piston isn't moved, the connection to the rest of the circuit will remain live, which is always good for us. It means no explosions. I don't want a fourteen and thirteen year old to remove high explosives," I explained. "But… Do you have any one millimeter wire?"

"Yeah, we store it in the same room as the robot. There are cutters and a small soldering iron there, too," the elderly sailor stated.

"Good, what you'll need to do is take about two meters of wire, solder one end to the door's wire, then the other to the wire coming from the other side. Then wait for a series of knocks. Three slow, three quick, three slow. Got it?" Misato ordered.

I sent a silent prayer to whatever god shone upon us.

Shinji and Asuka nodded.

"Let's get you as close as we can. Anno, keep the two civvies here. All other agents, I want you to follow us. And Misato, can I have my rifle back, please?" I barked.

When she handed it back, I quickly clipped it back into place.

"I'm going to swing by my cabin and meet up with you," Kaji stated, dashing out.

Misato and I lead the two pilots and the remaining agents to the corridor they were camped out in.

We stopped by a vent and pushed the kids in, Shinji first then Asuka to avoid any sort of injuries for either party's dignity.

"Okay, we move on three. Shoot from cover only," I said to the remaining group members.

"One." Safeties were switched.

"Two." Weapons were readied.

"Three!"

I leaned out and opened a hellfire on the unknown gunman at the door. My shots rang out amongst a deafening storm of gunshots, cries, the noise of reloading, and thuds as members of both sides fell.

The gunfight went on for almost a half hour until our side, and presumably the hostiles, ran out of ammo. There was silence for nearly two minutes. I peeked around to find not a single person guarding the door, although, it was riddled with dents from the bullets. A few went through towards the floor.

"Hope the kids are alright," Misato muttered.

"No kidding," I agreed as we moved towards the door.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Are you done?" I asked through one of the holes.

The handle spun and the piston clanged before swinging open.

"Now, let's get these charges off the Eva and secured," Misato said. We quickly removed the triggering wires from the plastic explosives stuck to the armor before removing them as well.

After securing the C4, we returned to the bridge, had the papers signed and went to relax before arriving in Shin-Yokosuko. Apparently, Kaji fled after going to his cabin. What a coward.

A week was spent at the spas before we returned to Tokyo-3 and Nerv HQ with a new pilot and Eva.

XxXxX

**A/N:** I know I said this will follow Rebuild's timeline more, but I couldn't resist the freedom I'd have had for going to the original plotline. I'm not sure another Angel fight would have been as new and interesting. Plus I don't want to waste them all this soon! Anyways, some of the stuff here might scream "pulled out of his ass" and it's right. I don't really know much about ships and whatnot, so I made up what I needed.

Also, I apologize for the over-using of the f-word. But, Toshi's personality is slightly similar to mine, and if that happened to me, I'd probably have used it a few more times! I'll make sure to tone it down severely after this. I'm pretty sure I've reached my f-word limit for the first 20k words. Haha.

Thanks to Matsuko Hirioko for beta reading.

Next Chapter: Futago no Shito (双子の使徒)


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